


(At the End of the Day) Am I what you´ve waited for?

by LilMissAwesome



Category: Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Additional Tags to Be Added, Aunt May is a nurse, Avengers Family, Boys Kissing, Bucky/OFC is mentioned, Comic Book Science, M/M, Other MCU characters mentioned, Spider-son, The Serum, how does radiation work?, mention of HYDRA-typical violence, some more than others, very handwavy science, what even is genetics?
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-05-17
Updated: 2019-05-19
Packaged: 2020-03-06 18:25:50
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 8,463
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/18856588
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/LilMissAwesome/pseuds/LilMissAwesome
Summary: The one where Tony is supposed to help Bruce find out how the serum works and instead changes the Avengers family dynamic forever.





	1. (or the longest prologue in the history of prologues ever)

**Author's Note:**

> This is based on a weird head canon that came to me one day and would´t let go of me.  
> It´s also my first WinterIron fic and the first thing I´m posting on AO3 - so if I did something wrong, forgot to tag sthn or should add a warning please let me know.  
> The story is finished and I´ll post the rest over the weekend.
> 
> Big Thank-you to everyone over at the WinterIron discord for keeping me entertained and encouraged and for getting me back into writing fic.
> 
> This also hasn´t been properly beta-ed, so any typos, excess commas or tense errors you find can be adopted.

Tony has never been a fan of the squishier sciences. Partly because he tends to do better with robots and computers than with actual living things (there are quite a few dead houseplants that designers and a much more optimistic Pepper had given him, that could attest to that) but also because there are just too many outside influences and variables that can change the outcome of an experiment.

But you don´t become a genius if you´re good at resisting a challenge.

So, when Bruce asks him for help setting up a genetic sequencer to compare samples taken from Bruce himself, to some he had taken from Steve to figure out the serum that had created both the Hulk and Captain America, Tony agrees. 

Well, he eventually agrees. He doesn´t really like the idea of recreating the serum at first - Bruce never says that´s what he wants to do, he always says he´s trying to "understand" the serum, but Tony is pretty fluent in "scientist", he knows where this is headed - but after the whole Extremis Mess he can see that there might be a demand for something that could accelerate human healing abilities. Especially if it doesn´t come with explosive side effects. So, he agrees to help Bruce. 

Their first series of tests garner some interesting results. It turns out that the fabled "vita rays" of Dr. Erskine and Howard were pretty much just low doses of gamma radiation - likely a 2.5 to the 3000 that Bruce had been hit with in that lab accident. 

They also realize that Bruce's thesis advisor very likely had ties to Hydra, as he was the one that passed his sketchy notes about the serum on to Bruce (Tony shudders at the thought that Bruce was likely just days away from being recruited into Hydra when the lab blew up and the Hulk took over). 

When Wanda and Pietro join the Avengers, the sample group gets wider. This allows the Science Bros to confirm the theory that the "Hulk Serum" was based on Hydra ideas, because it is closer to the one that "powers" the twins as either of the two is to that of good old Cap. It also becomes clear that the radiation rather than the serum itself causes the mutation. The twins didn't get hit by gamma rays - which apparently causes enhanced strength and accelerated healing - but rather with whatever powered Loki’s scepter, giving them powers that are very different from the ones of Hulk and Cap. 

So by the time Tony finds Peter and offers him not just an Internship at Stark Industries but also a spot as a trainee Avenger - Tony knows he can´t convince him to give up the superhero-ing but he can at least provide him with a safety net (pun definitely intended!) - they have a few interesting theories about the serum and are more than eager to test them against samples of someone who got powers from being subjected to low levels of radiation - via spider spit apparently, what even is Tony´s life? - without the serum acting as a buffer.

What they find is...disappointing. Peter´s cells differ from those of Steve, Bruce and the Wonder Twins - and Tony is itching to get his hands on some spider DNA to check how much spider there actually is to Spider Man - but not as much as they had thought.

But before they can do more tests and figure this out, Steve brings his old pal Bucky into the tower and suddenly Tony is Busy (with a capital B) with other stuff. 

Stuff like defending the world’s longest POW against a World Wide court. Like finding a way to definitely and safely get rid of any and all triggers that Hydra left behind in Bucky´s brain. Like creating a safe place for a man who is not only enhanced and has a metal arm but also suffers from PTSD and has a trigger list longer than...something very long - Tony is incredibly busy, too busy to think of funny similes.

But most importantly he is busy coming to terms with the idea that he now has regular movie nights with the man who killed his parents. Tony was angry at first - well, he went through all 5 stages of grief, but it feels like he detoured through anger several times - but he really only needs to think back to how Bucky looked when Steve told Tony the whole story, for this anger to simmer down. Bucky had been the perfect image of despair and remorse, hiding behind his hair, his flesh arm wrapped around his body as if to protect himself from the punches and kicks that he clearly expected - but never came. Tony had grown up around weapons, he knew the difference between a gun and the men who wielded them.

So, while Tony is devastated about learning the truth about how his parents died - and there _will_ be some more investigation, especially into Obie’s involvement in all this - he is willing to forgive the man who had been forced to kill them.

It is actually not that hard either. The Bucky that lives in the tower has almost nothing in common with the Winter Soldier in those videos that Nat and Steve found.  
Bucky is soft-spoken and patient when he spends hours cooking and baking with Bruce and Natasha. He is happy and almost boisterous when he is beating Clint and Scott at Mario Kart. He is full of questions and downright awe when Steve or Sam introduce him to one of the marvels of the 21st century (Tony had never seen a person actually hug a coffee maker before, even though he might have come close to it himself a few times). 

Some people might say that Tony is developing a crush on Bucky. These people are obviously wrong. Tony just keeps a close eye on Bucky to be able to help him adapt to his new life, make sure he has everything he needs for his recovery and is quite simply happy and comfortable. Nothing wrong with that. (The same people might also like to point out that Tony is so deep in denial he might as well have his mail forwarded to Egypt).

Bruce suggest they take samples from Bucky while they are having a team dinner about 6 months after the former Winter Soldier has come in from the cold. Tony stops with his fork halfway to his mouth, about to protest that it´s too soon, that they might trigger something by poking Bucky with a bunch of needles (his first medical exam did not go well and even though the hole that Bucky punched in his panic is now fixed, the color of that particular wall will always be a bit darker than the rest of the room) but Bucky´s interest is peaked. Before Tony can even finish his peas, the Frozen Wonder has already agreed to become Dr. Banner´s newest pin cushion.

Steve and Wanda are both on standby but not needed as Bruce takes several phials of blood as well as a hair and saliva sample from Bucky. Bruce might insist that he´s really “not that type of doctor” whenever Clint manages to trip down another flight of stairs, but his bedside manner is impeccable. He makes sure to keep up a constant level of chatter, talking Bucky trough everything he does in a low and calm voice, watching the other man closely for any tells of discomfort and moving onto something else, not pointing them out when they happen. He is basically the polar opposite of what Tony expects a Hydra scientist to be.

Once the samples are gathered, they are fed into the machines and Tony starts FRIDAY – the AI that he gifted to Bruce as a welcome gift along with the lab – to do the first round of basic tests. The rest of the team are already leaving, talking about what they are gonna do with the rest of the afternoon – this whole thing really did go quicker than any of them expected – as Tony is still busy feeding data into the computer. Bucky hangs back for a bit, halfway out the door, to make sure Tony will join them for movie night later (and nope, the warm feeling spreading through Tony at that is just his 4th dose of caffeine of the day kicking in, nothing else) and Tony promises that he´ll be up as soon as he is done here, which will be way sooner if people stop interrupting, thank you very much.

Tony does stay behind a little longer to look at the first preliminary data coming in – blood type, hormone levels, markers for any of the more common diseases – when there is a sudden alert coming from FRIDAY, who has apparently found a match for something. Tony pulls up the relevant data and stares at it in incomprehension for a while. There were a few matches he expected – a similar, if not the same serum that was used on the twins, radiation levels close to the ones of Cap. But no scientific process could have prepared him for what FRIDAY is showing him now. 

Side by side are the genetic data of James Buchanan Barnes and that of Peter Benjamin Parker and even though Tony really is not a big fan of the squishy sciences he can still see that they look remarkably similar, too similar to be anything but…

Tony’s brain stalls – something that usually requires either a bump to the head or at least 3 days without sleep – so he asks FRIDAY to explain to him exactly what he’s looking at. Which she does with a cheery "Congratulations boss, it´s a boy! "


	2. (or the part where Tony finds out a lot of interesting things)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A little warning: In this chapter there is some brief mention of some not-nice stuff happening to a pregnant person. If you rather don´t want to read it skip the part between May complaining about the 90s and start back when Tony squeezes her hand. I´ll put a short summary of the important bits in between in the end-notes.

Peter is Bucky´s son. Bucky is Peter´s father.

It doesn´t matter which way round Tony phrases it, it doesn´t make sense. He has FRIDAY run the data again, he has JARVIS check her work, he compares the sequences himself – there is no denying it. Except that it doesn´t make any sense.

Except for how it does, somehow make sense. When Tony stops to think about it, the way Peter got his powers was always a little...weird (as if there was anything not weird about getting superpowers...). Usually, when you get bit by a radioactive animal you get very sick (when you´re lucky) or die (when you´re not so lucky) - you don´t, generally, develop superpowers. The only thing they know of, that turns radiation into superpowers is the serum. But how would Peter have gotten in contact with the serum? Unless he had been injected with it without his knowledge, hereditary transmission is their safest bet (actually, Tony had no idea if the serum could be passed on to offspring, up until 10 minutes ago he wasn’t aware that any of the people who had been subjected to it had procreated...) and Bucky really was the most likely candidate for that. Steve had still been looking at nothing but ice when Peter was born, Bruce hadn´t hulked-out yet and the twins were only a couple of years older than Peter. So, it makes sense that Bucky is Peter´s dad.

Except for how it totally, absolutely doesn´t.

Tony has JARVIS lock down the results, swears both AIs to secrecy and makes a note to contact May Parker as soon as possible. He feels like she might have some explaining to do.

By the time Tony is done with his work it is long past midnight and the common floor is abandoned, everything silent, all the lights turned off – except for the dim glow coming from the light over the kitchen island. And on that kitchen island sits one former Winter Soldier, flesh hand wrapped around a mug, metal finger trailing the seams of the tiles.

For a second Tony - foolishly - thinks he can sneak by Bucky, but the ex-assassin has probably known he was up here before he even left the elevator and he stops Tony dead in his tracks when he says: “I wanted to go down and get you when we started the movie but JARVIS said you were busy, so…there´s still some Pizza in the fridge.”

Under normal circumstances Tony would be impressed that there are any leftovers – the tower is home to several people with amped up metabolisms as well as Clint who tends to eat like a 14-year old just home from football practice. But these aren´t normal circumstances, so Tony just mutters a “Thanks, but I think I´m gonna turn in.”

“Did you find something bad?” Tony turns on the spot and stares at Bucky. He is amazed by how much this huge wall of muscle can look like a lost puppy. And of course, he would think that Tony found something bad, most things in Bucky´s long life can be boiled down to “something bad”.

And Tony absolutely hates keeping this a secret from Bucky. But then again, how do you tell a man that he fathered a child – or maybe there are more? Maybe there is a whole boarding school full of mini version of the Winter Soldier? – while being mind-controlled by Nazis? Especially when the child in question is a brilliant, snarky 17-year old with a perchance of swinging through the streets of New York using self-made spiderwebs and catching bad guys. Tony is pretty sure that there isn´t a self-help book on the mark that deals with that particular topic.

And apparently Tony has been silent for too long, because Bucky had gotten up from his chair, dumped his mug in the sink and is standing in front of the genius now, head bent and hair hiding his expression. “Just…tell me how bad it is, Tony. Please. Am I…is there any danger for the others?”

God, Tony wants to push the hair back and hug Bucky, as long as it will take the man to stand up straight and confident again. But he doesn´t. Instead he places a comforting hand on the other man´s flesh shoulder. “It´s nothing bad, Buckster.” He tries to sound as genuine as he can, but he´s not sure that it´s working. “You know me. I found something interesting and I decided to poke at it. And then I proded at it and then I cataloged it and then I painted it pink…and before you know it, they are playing the National Anthem on TV.”

His distraction seems to work, Bucky chuckles and shakes his head. "You're something else, Tony Stark." He finally looks up, pushing the hair out of his face. 

"Something good I hope." Tony can't help but ask, just as he notices that his hand is still on Bucky's shoulder and it's gone past comforting and straight into awkward now. But as he takes his hand away, Bucky grabs it. "The best actually." he states, holding onto Tony's hand, looking him straight in the eye. "I'm so grateful for everything you've done for me. Even... especially after..." 

Tony waves his free hand to stop him. "Don't mention it. Seriously don't. I did what any halfway decent human being would do. I just happen to have more resources than most." 

Now it's Bucky´s turn to shake his head "No Tony, you did so much more. You gave me a home, a safe place. You fixed my mind, you brought me back to myself." He tugs on Tony's hand, pulling him a little bit closer as an honest to God smirk appears on his lips. "You literally told the world council to fuck off when they wanted to send me to prison." 

"Well..." Tony tilts his head. "I'm still not totally convinced that half of them aren't secretly Hydra and just trying to get you back. So, no way are they getting their filthy hands on you. You're all mine. No, that came out wrong..." Tony feels himself panic at what sounded suspiciously like a confession of something, readies his body to be drop-kicked across the living room by the fucking Winter Soldier. But Bucky just... laughs. It's a startled, vulnerable sound and it makes Tony look up at him. "Did it though? Coz I quiet liked the sound of it." 

A part of Tony wants to run away, pull his hand out off Bucky's grip, jump into his fastest car and try to out-drive the humiliation. But this part is quickly smothered with a metaphorical pillow by a much braver part of him, that urges him to stay and see where exactly this conversation is headed. "Well, technically you belong to nobody but yourself. You're a free man. Free to go wherever you want and do whatever you want. Within reason of course." Tony might have decided to be brave, but he apparently also decided to be a rambling idiot. "You could go get ice-cream, or adopt a cat... Or learn how to knit or..." 

"Can I kiss you?" Bucky asks, honest and open, his metal hand carefully moving up to cradle Tony's cheek as his flesh hand pulls him impossibly closer. 

"Yeah." Tony swallows, audibly in the silence of the kitchen. "You could totally do that as well... I mean if you wanted to..."

"I very much want to." Bucky mumbles, his lips already against Tony's and then they are kissing and it´s really, really, _really_ nice. But suddenly - just as Bucky is playfully nipping on his ear - Tony becomes aware of the fact that they are in the middle of the common floor and his "roommates" tend to keep very odd hours. He pulls away, relishing in the fact that Bucky follows him for a split second before letting him go.

"Remember about like 5 minutes ago, when I was talking about heading to bed?" Bucky nods slowly, the puppy-left-in-the-rain look threatening to reappear on his face, making Tony hurry - almost trip over his words - as he continues "Wanna join me?"

And just like that Bucky´s face transforms, his expression one of utter glee mixed with disbelief - he looks like the proverbial child on Christmas morning who just found out that not only did he get the bike, the trip to Disneyland and the puppy but the snow and world peace as well.   
"You sure, doll?" he whispers, and the endearment sends a shiver down Tony´s spine, that has absolutely nothing to do with coffee this time around. 

The genius shrugs his shoulders. "Remember, you are a free man. You can go wherever you want." He carefully pulls his hand out of Bucky´s hold, making sure that the movement does not come across as rejection, and takes a step back. "If that happens to be the penthouse..."

Before Tony can even think of a sassy way to finish his sentence Bucky lets out a playful growl, dashes forward and wraps and arm around Tony´s waist. "Lead the way genius." he whispers into Tony´s ear and for the first time in maybe his entire life, Tony does as he´s told.

###

Tony wakes up slowly and then all at once when the memories of the previous day come rushing back at him.

Bucky and Peter are...father and son. The boy Tony took under his wing, the kid who makes the word “sir” sound so much more like the word “dad” than Tony had ever thought possible, was the biological child of the man...that was currently naked in Tony´s bed, snoring softly. 

Tony resists the urge to smother himself with a pillow. Why does he have this uncanny – and totally useless – ability to make every bad situation he finds himself in, into a worse situation. Yesterday, the thought of telling Bucky and Peter what he´d found had sounded challenging – with the events of last night in mind it sounded...downright impossible.

“Stop thinking so loud.” Bucky grumbles from beside him, the arm that he has wrapped around Tony´s waist tightening a little bit as he pulls him closer. 

Tony snuggles into the hug, but can´t help the protest “I´m a certified genius, it´s literally impossible for me to stop thinking. There are always equations to work out in my head, new R&D ideas to ponder, improvements to superhero gear...” In a move that takes Tony´s breath away in the best kind of way, Bucky flips them over so that he´s hovering over the other man.   
“Want me to shut up that brilliant brain of yours?” He asks, teasing twinkle in his eyes...

“You can try...” Tony says, stretching languidly, his body rubbing against Bucky´s in all the right places. “Not sure how successfully you will be”

The former Winter Soldier picks the movement up quickly as he promises “I´ve always liked a challenge.”

###

A couple of hours later, finds Tony on his way to meet with May Parker. He´d called ahead, made sure she was at home and didn´t have a shift at the hospital later today. He had no idea how their talk was going to go, but he was betting on “not pretty”. "By the way, not only is your nephew a genetically enhanced Super-Spider, but his bio dad is the guy this one Buzzfeed article called the ‘World´s sexiest assassin’. Just checkin to see if you knew..."

The thing is, Tony´s actually not totally convinced that May doesn´t know. He had looked into her records and while everything regarding Peter is on the up and up, there are a few things that don´t hold up to Tony´s (and JARVIS´s) snooping. First and foremost: Margaret "May" Alice Parker was an only child, no sibling on record, not even adopted ones. Now, Tony will be the first one to point out that terms like "aunt" and "uncle" don´t always have to refer to blood-relations only (exhibit A: "uncle" Obie) but it still sets off several alarm bells in his head, especially in the light of recent developments.

May looks a little confused when she lets Tony into her small apartment. "What can I help you with Mr. Stark. Is something wrong with Peter? He said he´d be at the tower after school…"

"No, nothing to worry about." Tony quickly reassures her. "There are just a few things that popped up with HR." Tony had thought long and hard on the drive over about what the best way to approach the subject would be and had decided against the direct one. He doesn´t want to accuse May of anything, it is still possible that she really has no idea. (For a scary moment the paranoid part of Tony´s brain had entertained the thought of May working for Hydra and raising Peter all those years as a potential successor to the Winter Soldier - but he´d just as quickly buried that idea in a deep dark place he never planned to even look at again) So for now he is gonna start with subterfuge and lying and see how far that will get him. "They need Pete´s medical records and that includes information about his parents, to check for any genetic stuff. There was nothing in his file, so I thought I´d just come by and check with you..."

He trails off when he sees the look May is giving him. “What did you find, Mr. Stark?” She asks, pulling out a kitchen chair and indicating for Tony to grab a seat as well. Apparently he is really bad at subterfuge - Nat will be so disappointed.

“I´m guessing you found something in that SHIELD data dump from last year?” May starts, shaking her head. “I should have told him earlier….When he told me about being Spider Man, I should have known they did something to him…Conny all but said so…”  
“Okay, woah…back up.” Tony stops her. “I found something regarding Peter´s parents but I´m guessing I found the…other part of the puzzle than the one you´re having.” May gives him a look that manages to be both confused and hopeful. “Maybe start at the beginning. Who is Conny…I´m guessing Peter´s mum from context clues but…”

“Conny was my best friend.” She lets out a small laugh. “I´m not even lying when I tell people Peter is my nephew because Conny and I, for a little while we were like sisters. We met on the first day of college and we just clicked. We became instant friends, study-partners and roommates in our second year. We were inseparable.” May´s hand is trailing the pattern of the table cloth, her eyes focused on something just over Tony´s shoulder.

“She was absolutely brilliant, carried me through most of my classes if I´m being honest. She had such a thirst for knowledge and she always wanted to help people – Peter is so much like her, it hurts sometimes.” There are tears pooling in her eyes, but she doesn´t bother brushing them away, she knows there will be more before she’s done telling the story.

“She got an internship at this big medical tech company just before graduation, doing something with trauma patients and neurological programming. She couldn´t tell me much and I – honestly, I didn´t ask. She seemed happy enough working there, but then one day, about a year after we graduated, she dropped off the radar. Moved out of her apartment without a forwarding address, her phone number was disconnected as well. I looked for her, of course. But that was in the early 90s, I´m sure you remember. There was no social media back then.”

“Anyway, I didn´t hear from her for like 8 or 9 years and then she´s suddenly in front of my door, scared out of her mind and very pregnant. At first, I thought she was running from an abusive ex or something, she certainly had the bruises for it. But she kept talking about a snake and how they were not gonna have her baby and it all started to sound more like she was on the run from the people she was working for. But she still didn´t tell me anything and then she went into labor right there in my living room.” May lets out another small laugh. “She absolutely ruined my couch. But yeah, Peter was born right over there.” She points over at the living room. “I got a new couch since then obviously.”

And just like that her smile is gone again. “Conny held him for a bit, she gave him the name Peter actually and told him he looked just like his dad. Then she gave him to me to clean him up a bit and when I came back…” The tears are streaming freely down her face now and Tony reaches for her hand to provide the little amount of comfort he can. “She was gone. Just up and left. They found her 2 days later in some back alley. The police said it was likely gang related because her…” She takes a deep breath to steal herself, her nurse-persona taking over. “Her throat had been slit and there were several stab wounds to her abdomen. Whoever did it hadn´t known that the baby had been born already and wanted to make really sure that he was dead along with her.”

Tony squeezes her hand as much to reassure her as himself. “And you just kept Peter? Said he was you nephew?”

“Oh no.” She shakes her head. “I was scared shitless, even before they found her. But I had promised her to keep him safe from whoever was looking for her. I took him to the hospital I was working at, left him in a cardboard box by the entrance where I knew someone would find him within minutes. And then I took care of him there. Made sure I was very vocal about how sorry I was for the little guy. And when the time came that social services where looking for a family to adopt him, half of my co-workers suggested that I should take him in.” She shrugs her shoulders. “I officially adopted him just before his first birthday. 'Aunt May' came later, when he started to talk. He started saying 'ma' just like babies do and I couldn´t stand the idea of him calling me 'mum' or ‘mama’. Conny was his mum and even though I couldn´t tell him the truth about her, I didn´t want him to grow up not knowing at least as little of the truth as I could give him. So, I redirected his ‘ma’'s to something more like ‘May’, which was what Conny had always called me anyway, so I found it very fitting. And I´ve raised him ever since."

“Wow, that´s quiet an origin story.” Tony let´s go of her hand and leans back in her chair. " You said she mentioned Pete´s dad at some point?"

"Oh yeah. Only once, she probably thought I wasn´t listening. She said he had the same blue eyes as his dad - that didn´t last obviously. And I think she said, "You look just like my Yasha."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Summary of potentially skipped part: Conny shows up at Mays place several years later, on the run from her bosses and heavily pregnant with Peter who is born later in May´s living room. Conny holds him, names him Peter and leaves while May is cleaning Peter up but HYDRA finds her...


	3. (or the part where everything goes bad before it can be good again)

Tony spends another 2 hours with May. He shares the news he found, and she shows him old pictures of Conny. They drink tea and strategize about how they're gonna talk to Peter and Bucky about the whole mess.

May thinks it´s long overdue for Peter to know the truth about his parents but Tony wants to wait just a little longer. They are still missing some of the pieces and May mentioning the data dump earlier made him think that the SHIELD files might be a good place to look for them. Even if Conny was never working directly for HYDRA, there is very likely some mention of her if she was working that close to the Winter Soldier. So, he takes off to look for them, promising May to inform her of any and all new developments.

The scene that greets him when he gets back to the tower makes him wish he had gone straight to the ‘shop instead of to the common floor to look for Bucky first.  
The man in question is right there, camped out on the long couch, working his way through a plate of almond cookies and a Sci-Fi anthology that he seems to have stolen from Tony´s private collection – he pretty much looks like all of Tony´s guilty pleasures rolled into one – but he is not alone. Peter is on the other side of the couch, reading something on his STARK pad, albeit his position looks slightly more uncomfortable than Bucky´s. The teen is lounging upside-down, his legs dangling over the headrest, while his head is almost touching the floor.

Just as Tony wants to say something, Bucky stretches out one of his legs, poking the kid in the side with a socked foot. "You´re gonna make yourself sick reading like that. "

Peter swats halfheartedly at the offending appendage and explains, with a tone of haughtiness and expertise in his voice that was probably already used by prehistoric children, when they explained outrageous concepts like farming to their cavemen parents. "This makes all the blood rush to my head, which makes it easier for my brain to absorb new facts. "

Bucky huffs out a laugh. "Back in my day we just slept with the book under the pillow to 'absorb the facts'. "

"Did they already have books back in your day? Weren´t you still using stone tablets? " Peter asks, clearly teasing and grabbing the foot aimed for his side this time.

"Oi kid! Nobody ever teach you to respect your elders?" And just like that book and tablet are forgotten and Bucky and Peter are literally roughhousing on the couch. Tony can only stare at them.

When did the two become so close anyway? Tony thinks he might be the one to blame for that as well. Peter tends to follow him like a duckling whenever he´s in the tower and Bucky has been finding reasons to be around Tony more and more lately. So somewhere between helping Tony in his workshop and bonding over their shared interest in what Peter calls 'old movies' they appear to have become…this.

Tony is thinking about just heading straight down to the ‘shop but he gets spotted by Peter who flips over in a move that gives Tony whiplash just from watching and only Bucky´s quick reflexes safe the ex-assassin from a knee to the face. "Hey Mr. Stark…Tony, I mean. When did you come back? Bucky´s gonna cook, is it okay if I stay?"

"Of course, kiddo. Where is everybody else? " Tony asks, still rooted to the spot as if afraid to move closer.

"Nat and Steve are sparring, they´ll be up later. Sam is at the VA. Clint mumbled something about 'mobsters' and 'dog cops' and just took off. Bruce is at the Sanctum, having tea with Strange and the Wonder Twins are still upstate with Doc Xavier and his bunch. So, it´s just the three of us for now." Bucky looks a little sheepish as he lists of everyone and Tony can only imagine what his evening would look like if he just send Peter home.

But then Peter snorts and vaults over the headrest of the couch, already headed for the kitchen. "Finally, an intimate family dinner for once." The kid is obviously joking but the mention of 'family' still makes the blood freeze in Tony´s veins.

"I need to finish something in the workshop…I´ll be…" he lets the sentence hang, not sure if he wants to end it with 'back in time for dinner' or 'leaving you two to bond like father and son', and dashes back in the elevator not waiting for the protests that are sure to follow him.

In the lab he immediately gets to work. "JAR, pull up all the SHIELD/HYDRA files Nat so kindly brought to our attention and scan for any mention of a Doctor Constance Mellins or any variations thereof, Conny Mellins, C. Mellins, you know the drill. Special attention to anything that mentions the Winter Soldier program as well. " He sinks into his rolling chair, attention fixed on the filenames that JARVIS is already flipping through. "Also look for anything about a child, baby, pregnancy, gestation and so on in connection to her. And Bruce isn´t home so feel free to knock on FRIDAY´s door and see if she wants to come play as well."

###

Tony finds several HYDRA reports mentioning Conny and they tell an interesting story.

There is no mention of a pregnancy before her 'termination notice' – a mission report where she is mentioned as the target rather than 'attending neurologist' that was marked 'succesful' on 2nd June 2000 – which makes Tony breath a little easier, knowing that Peter is not the result of some twisted HYDRA experiments.

Over the course of 2 years, Conny worked on several Winter Soldier missions (the last one dating back to about 7 months before Peter was born) and even though all the missions were successful there are mentions of the Winter Soldier ‘malfunctioning’ and remembering things he shouldn´t have. 

Tony wishes he could get his hands on Conny´s notes to see what exactly she was doing to the Winter Soldier.

What he gets instead is an employment file, which – because HYDRA is nothing if not fucking creepy – includes a complete DNA analysis.

After having seen the pictures of Conny, Tony is pretty sure that she´s Peter´s mother but he still has JARVIS run another test, this time comparing all three sets of data against each other, while he himself sorts through all the information to create a somewhat coherent story.

"Hey Mis-Tony. Bucky said to come and get you because dinner´s almost ready and hey, why is my face on the…what is that?" Tony quickly waves his hand to dismiss the test result that proudly proclaim Peter´s parentage just as the teen in question bursts into the lab, but it´s too late. Peter has clearly seen enough to understand what Tony is working on - and he does not seem happy about it. 

In fact, happy might just be one of the few emotions not currently present on the teens face - confusion, anger, betrayal however? All present and accounted for. "When...how long have you known?"

Tony knows that Peter doesn´t really care about an answer to his question - the hurt on the kid´s face makes it pretty obvious that anything short of "I literally found out 5 seconds ago and was just in the process of calling you down to tell you about it." is going to be considered a wrong answer anyway - so he decides to go for comfort instead. 

He reaches out a hand towards to boy and uses a voice that´s similar to the one he uses on the Hulk when he needs calming down. "It´s fine, Pete. Just take a seat and I´ll expla..."

He doesn´t get to finish his sentence as Peter pushes him away, completely misjudging his strength in his emotionally agitated state and sending Tony sprawling against one of his worktables. There is the sound of breaking glass when several - empty, thank Tesla for small mercies - flasks meet their untimely end and Tony feels a sharp pain in his left arm but he doesn´t pay any attention to it.

Because the universe hates him and decided to send Bucky down to the ‘shop to check on them - and guessing from the furious Winter Soldier that is murder-strutting into the room, he definitely caught the tail-end of their 'conversation'.

"What the fuck?" Bucky´s growl is enough to finally tear Peter´s attention from the screens. The Spiderling twirls around, eyes wide in fear and shock as he takes in the man - his father - in front of him, before bolting out of the lab, expertly dodging the metal arm reaching to stop him.

Bucky is clearly about to run after him and Tony doesn´t even want to think what a fight between the two of them would look like, so he yells "Bucky, no! Let him go!"

The former assassin turns around, taking in the mess in front of him. "You´re fucking bleeding Tony." He growls - and, yap, Tony is in fact bleeding from several cuts along his arm. "Give me one good reason why I shouldn´t go after him and knock some sense into the boy."

If the situation wasn´t as fucked up as it is Tony would be laughing at the irony of Bucky using a turn of phrase that Tony himself has heard from his own father too many times to count. Instead he takes a deep breath and nods towards the screens, going straight for the heart of the matter as he points out: "Because he´s your son." 

Bucky stares at him, confused at first, comprehension slowly taking over before his face goes completely blank, the closest approximation to the Winter Soldier Tony has ever seen outside of grainy surveillance videos.

"Jarvis, please call Natasha and Steve down here. Tony needs some medical attention." The tone of his voice is calm and he waits for the AI to confirm that the other two Avengers are on their way before he walks out of the room - all without looking at Tony even once.

###

Tony calls May while Natasha is still putting Hulk-themed band aids on his cuts, glaring at him every time he moves. May promises to let them know as soon as she hears from Peter and Tony promises to activate the trackers in the Spider Man suit if the boy hasn´t been in contact by tomorrow morning.

FRIDAY lets them know that "Sergeant Barnes is still in the tower, he´s safe but has asked to be left alone for the moment." Tony can see that Steve is itching to go look for him anyway and takes it as a sign of personal growth that the good Captain decides to place an order for pizza instead, as Bucky´s casserole has sadly become another casualty of the evening.

May calls them back just as they´ve settled in to watch some nature documentary. Peter is staying at Ned´s and refuses to talk to anyone who isn´t his best friend or MJ as apparently everyone over the age of 18 is a "lying liar that lies". Tony would call him a tad over dramatic but he´s just glad that the kid is safe.

For the next couple of days life in the Avengers tower goes on without Bucky or Peter. The others ask what has happened, but Tony feels it´s not his story to tell, so he doesn´t. He does however make it clear to all AI´s - JARVIS, FRIDAY (who seems to have taken a shine to Bucky) and KAREN, who runs Peter´s new suit - that Bucky and Peter both have full access to all the information Tony has gathered. (He checked with May first since some of the details from the last file are a bit...graphic but they both agreed that Peter is old and mature enough to finally know the whole truth.)

###

It´s 6 days later that Tony comes home from an R&D meeting and finds Bucky in his workshop. He´s perched on one of Tony´s rolling chairs, arms resting on the workbench in front of him, eyes fixed on the projections of the files that JARVIS has pulled up for him. This time Tony doesn´t even think about trying to sneak back out unseen, because a) it hasn´t worked once when it comes to Bucky and b) the former Winter Soldier is obviously waiting for him.

"I didn´t kill her." is the first thing Bucky says, not turning around. Tony know immediately what he means, it had been one of his biggest fears as well. "No, you...the Winter Soldier didn´t. And believe me, we would know if he did. If there are two things, I know about HYDRA it´s that they are meticulous when it comes to note taking and that they love to point out dramatic irony, it´s all over Howard´s file." 

Bucky flinches when Tony mentions his father, but Tony just moves on. “Personally, I think they were scared of you defecting if they send you after her, that she could turn you. There isn´t much about it in the files but I´m guessing she must have done something that let you remember her on those missions.”

Bucky flinches when Tony mentions his father, but Tony just moves on. "Personally, I think they were scared of you defecting if they send you after her, that she could turn you. There isn´t much about it in the files but I´m guessing she must have done something that let you remember her on those missions."

"I do remember her." Bucky finally turns to Tony, too many emotions to count flashing over his face. "It´s vague, like when you have a dream and you don´t see the face of the guy trying to sell you a watch but you just know it´s your second-grade teacher?"   
Tony nods for him to carry on and steps closer as Bucky continues. "I don´t remember her face or her name but she was the only scientist who ever talked to me instead of at me or about me. She was kind and she wasn´t afraid of me. All the others were. They tried to hide it by being cruel or distant, but it was in their eyes. She seemed absolutely fearless. " He scrunches up his face as he tries to remember. "She called me Yasha and she would sit with me in the evenings. Though I don´t remember us being…that close." He seems a little sheepish as he says that and Tony can´t help but lean in to place a quick peck against his lips. He pulls back immediately, a little shocked at himself. "Sorry, was that okay? We didn´t really get to talk about the other night after all this…"

"It was fine." Bucky reassures him, pulling Tony closer so he can press their foreheads together. "And I definitely wanna talk about the other night, preferably after a little refresher." The smirk on Bucky´s face makes Tony´s entire body tingle. He is so glad that Bucky is okay, that he didn´t ruin whatever that thing between them has the potential to be.

Bucky pulls back a little, his attention focusing back on the screens. "God, this is such a fucking mess. Of course, there is some fall-out after 70 years of this." He gestures towards the Winter Soldier file. "But I honestly expected that botched Castro assassination to be the worst of it." He runs his flesh-hand through his hair and turns back to Tony. "I have no idea how to be a father."

"Well, I don´t really need one." Tony and Bucky both physically jump in their surprise and turn around to face a slightly sheepish Peter standing in the open door of the ‘shop (and Tony really needs to add some sound effect to this stupid door). "I mean, I did fine without a father for 17 years. I know how to shave and how to tie a tie and thanks to the whole Spiderman thing I´m also pretty decent at throwing a baseball, so…" He shrugs his shoulders. 

Tony chances a look at Bucky who manages to look relived and disappointed at the same time, the expression sliding into joyful hope as Peter finishes with: "But I could do with another friend."

"Yeah.” Bucky says. "I think that I can do." And he reaches out his metal arm to Peter, who immediately rushes over, having never refused a hug in his life and just like that Tony finds himself pulled into a cuddle with the newest Father-Son-Superhero-Team.

Tony knows that there is still a lot for them to talk about – he´s not sure how much Peter heard of their conversation or if there are specific stories Bucky wants to share with him – but all the things he could provide help with seem to be resolved for now. 

So he pulls out of the embrace after a moment and starts to make shooing motions as he kicks the other two out of his workshop. "That was nice, not mushy at all. But I have work to do, so go and be all 'cats in the cradle' somewhere else."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> not totally happy with all the "Conny-explanations" so if anything is unclear feel free to ask.


	4. (or the epilogue where they live happily ever after)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> this is just a short epilogue to tie up the last loose ends.
> 
> Thanks for reading!

There is a short briefing on the situation for the Avengers that weren´t around to witness the initial fall-out and some medical files are updated, but after that life goes back to normal at the tower.

Maybe Peter and Bucky spend a little more time together now – sparring, working on one of Tony´s old cars or just hanging out and watching movies. Peter still calls him Bucky though and goes home to May every night.

Tony and Bucky also get closer but in a very different way and they are also not so open about it. It´s not that they are keeping their relationship a secret – Tony is pretty sure that Natasha and Sam know about it – but they also don´t advertise it. When you´re sharing your home with seven other people (plus the occasional visitors), it is nice to have something that is just yours. So, they don´t really go out together much – because paparazzi – but have their dates in Tony´s penthouse or they hang out together in the workshop.

Just like they are doing now. They are curled up on the old couch in the corner, the suit Tony was wearing to a board meeting earlier happily mingling with Bucky´s preferred sweats-and-hoodie combo on the floor, when the door opens with the distinct hissing noise from Star Trek. It´s only Bucky´s quick reflexes and the fact that Pepper insisted years ago that the couch needed a nice throw, that save whoever is walking in from getting an eyeful of Tony´s butt – that person being none other than Peter.

"Mi-Tony, I think I found a solution to the problem with the weight distribution. Do you have any idea where Bucky is…Oh, you guys are…OH! I´m sorry, so sorry. I´m just gonna go and…be…somewhere else. I´ll…Bye!" The kid beats a hasty retreat, bumping into a table and the wall before he finds the door and dashes out.

Bucky and Tony stare at the door in shock for a second, before Bucky sighs. "Well, I guess that cat´s out of the bag now. Do you think we got enough time to get dressed before the others come down here to see what´s got the kid so spooked?"

Tony makes no move to get up from where he´s curled against Bucky´s chest. If anything, he only snuggles closer. "I don´t care. Let them see if they want to." But then he raises his head, looking at Bucky in mild concern. "Unless you don´t want them to know."

"Oh doll." Bucky presses a quick kiss to Tony´s lips. "I´d scream it from the top of the tower if you´d let me."

Before Tony can tell Bucky to go ahead, the door opens again and Peter ducks his head in, eyes covered with a hand but smirk firmly in place as he asks "Does that mean Tony is gonna be my step-mum now?"

Tony growls and grabs a pillow – another gift from Pepper – and throws it, missing Peter by a mile. The teen ducks back out again, his laughter mingling with Bucky’s.

"Your kid is the absolute worst." Tony grumbles as he burrows his face in Bucky´s neck, no real heat behind the statement.

"Yeah." Bucky agrees, as he flips them around, so Tony is squished against the back of the couch. "Yes, he is."


End file.
